Visit Us

Visit Us

We love visitors at Aldo Leopold Nature Center!

Visit us seven days a week to connect with nature and exercise your senses in our oak savanna, wetland, prairie, and woodland ecosystems nestled in the heart of beautiful Monona! Located on Femrite Drive, between Monona Drive and Copps Ave, and nestled between Woodland Park and Edna Taylor Conservancy – we are your neighborhood nature center and invite you to come, explore the magic and wonder of the natural world, located in your own backyard.

Visit our Children’s shack to discover a 3/4 size replica of Aldo Leopold’s Shack - the shack in which he and his family spent many weekends observing and recording the natural world along the Wisconsin River in Sauk county. Not fully staffed, the Children’s shack is open for special events and programming with tours available upon request.

Explore our indoor Nature Nooks! Designed for the littlest adventurers to engage with prairie, pond and woodland habitats and even learn a bit about Aldo Leopold! Your young child will have hours of fun playing and discovering in our indoor ecosystems with our Catch & Release Fishing stage, Prairie Plant Sensory table and Tree Hollow and Woodland Animal puppets.

Please note: Access to our Exhibit Area, including our Science on a Sphere, Immersion Theater and the Nina Leopold Bradley Family Phenology Center is now closed. We look forward to a new schedule for these spaces next spring.

At the Aldo Leopold Nature Center, we know that truly living our mission and reaching as many children, families, educators, conservationists and community members as possible means expanding access now.

In order to better serve our community, we are redesigning our space to increase our impact, improve our programs and better accommodate diverse populations. As you visit ALNC in the coming months, you will start to see signs of these changes – the first steps of an ongoing process to expand access – and we are taking great care to work around our existing programs and events.

ALNC is proud to be a part of Nature Net’s Nature Passport program! Get started by picking up this self-guided family program at ALNC or one of the other Nature Net sites throughout South-Central Wisconsin. Discover new places and take your adventures on the road!

HOURS

Our hiking trails featuring self-guided tours are free and open daily from dawn until dusk!

The Nature Center building including Visitor Services andNature Nook play spaces, Gift shop, and Lobby space are open:Monday through Friday: 9am to 4pm
Saturday and Sunday: 10am to 2pm

ADMISSION RATES UPDATE:Admission to all of our indoor play spaces is FREE!
Visit us seven days a week to connect with nature and learn about our world! As always, our hiking trails remain FREE and open to the public daily from dawn until dusk. Check our Calendar of Events to view public events and guided programs.

The Aldo Leopold Nature Center (ALNC) is dedicated to remaining accessible to the community and general public while making every effort to provide safe and enjoyable experiences for our students, visitors, and staff. For more information on how we are expanding access, please see our Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEAs) Policy Initiative. All staff, volunteers, visitors and members of the public shall maintain reasonable personal conduct and decorum while on the premises. Please see our Personal Conduct Policy for more information.

In addition, in keeping with the ALNC’s interest in the environment and human health, we have a smoke-free campus policy, in order to protect this environmental habitat and prevent exposure of this educational facility, its occupants, and visitors to environmental tobacco smoke. There shall be no smoking or use of other tobacco products while on premises either owned, rented by, or under the control of ALNC. This includes, but is not limited to, ALNC’s campuses, facilities, and grounds. Members of the public, including visitors, rental groups, student groups and teachers, and any ALNC staff who accompany them, shall not use tobacco products while on ALNC property or engaged in any ALNC-sponsored activity.

Take the South Beltline (Hwy 12-18) to Monona Drive. Exit North and continue past the Monona Drive/Broadway Street intersection.

Turn East on Femrite Drive and pull into the driveway after the Monona Meadows sign on the North side of the street. There is a sign for the Aldo Leopold Nature Center and Monona’s Woodland Park.

Follow the driveway up the hill; the Nature Center is located just south of the main parking lot. All buses must park in the first parking lot. For schools, this is also where students will greet the Naturalists.